President Trump Must Fire Top Adviser with Nazi Ties

Washington, D.C. - In light of reports that Sebastian Gorka, President Donald Trump’s top counterterrorism adviser, has sworn loyalty to a Hungarian far-right successor group that the U.S. State Department lists as having been “under the direction of the Nazi Government of Germany,” the National Jewish Democratic Council has issued a statement calling on Trump to immediately dismiss him from his position:

“Sebastian Gorka, President Donald Trump’s top counterterrorism adviser in the White House, reportedly is a member of the Historical Vitézi Rend, a successor loyalty group to the one founded by Admiral Miklos Horthy, a nationalist and anti-Semite who ruled Hungary from 1920 to October 1944. Horthy cooperated with Adolf Hitler and imposed anti-Jewish laws in Hungary prior to World War II.

As the Forward reported this morning, under U.S. State Department rules, members of the Vitézi Rend “are presumed to be inadmissible” to the U.S. under the Immigration and Nationality Act. According to immigration law, Gorka was all but obligated to reveal his membership. Vitézi Rend members swear allegiance to Hungary and many of its members embrace the anti-Semitism and racism of its founder. Gorka also reportedly wrote articles for a Hungarian paper known for its anti-Semitism.

Donald Trump has repeatedly said that the United States needs to implement, “extreme vetting,” in order to determine if we should allow certain immigrants into our country. And yet, it seems like he failed to vet one of his most trusted advisers. It is outrageous for someone who has sworn loyalty to another country, is a member of a racist and anti-Semitic group, and very possibly lied in his immigration interview, to serve in the White House. We call upon President Trump to fire Gorka immediately.”